Easy To Transfer Officers Into Police: Elsie Leung

Former justice secretary Elsie Leung said on Monday that it would be easy for the government to draft in officers from various disciplined services to bolster the city's stretched police force.

Leung was responding to a report in the Sing Tao Daily that the government is studying the possibility of using emergency powers or the Public Order Ordinance to allow volunteers from other disciplined services to carry out police duties to ease the pressure on frontline officers.

The former justice chief said some of these volunteers could end up carrying out tasks similar to those they already do.

"The government could easily deploy other disciplined services to assist [the police], for example, with the removal of obstacles in the road or the handling of detainees," she said.

Hong Kong's disciplined services include the fire, customs, prison and immigration departments, as well as the Government Flying Service.

Speaking on a talk show hosted by veteran democrat Emily Lau, Leung also said she thinks an independent commission of inquiry could be set up to look into Hong Kong's social unrest, but it would only be possible after the turmoil comes to an end.

She said it would be a challenge to determine the scope of such an inquiry when the protests are still ongoing and society would have to be a position first where it could reach a consensus on issues such as who should be appointed and what legal protections should be given to those testifying.